News Briefs

3/1/2012, Adar 7, 5772

Russia, China Support Humanitarian Aid for Syria

Russia and China joined, Thursday evening, a call by the United Nations Security Council to allow the head of the U.N,'s assistance forces to Syria, where a year-long civil war has taken an estimated 7,500 lives. The decision has been viewed as suprising, since the two countries have recently vetoed resolutions condemning Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad for his violent suppression of dissent or for imposing sanctions on the government in Damascus.

Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for foreign troops not to get involved in the butchering of Syria's civilian population. A Russian presidential spokesman said the two expressed their support for the Syrian people but agreed that responsibility for resolution of the crisis rested on the government and the opposition alone and that foreign intervention must be avoided.